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Local Short-Range GPSr Jamming/Signal Blocking Device


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Background and Overview

I have long had a mild back-burner interest in small, low-power portable and deployable (i.e. something that could be temporarily installed in a forest or other setting near a cache) devices which could emit jamming signals on one or more frequencies in order to block use of GPS receivers, WiFi or cell phones. Much of this interest, I suspect, can be laid at the door of all of the following reasons:

  • I live in the mountains of Western Maryland just a few miles from Camp David, and thus, as someone who hunts geocaches and also hides geocaches in the local mountains, I am well aware, from plentiful first-hand experience, of the effects of the GPS jamming signals (some folks like to call them "GPS signal dithering signals") employed by the military and NSA specialists at Camp David whenever the camp is "active". When they activate this local GPS jamming signal, it tends to cause GPSrs within about eight miles of Camp David to display rather inaccurate readings, or, if the jamming signal is strong enough, it can cause the GPSr to display wildly inaccurate readings. Some local pilots have told me that the jamming signal actually renders their onboard GPS receivers totally inoperative if they stray too close to the borders of Camp David.
  • I was a ham radio operator and an electronics hobbyist before age ten, and so I have always had a fascination for electronic gadgets, particularly RF gadgets.
  • my first major in college (on my first pass through college), and my first profession was electronics engineering.
  • when I was in high school (it was a very very very long time ago; don't ask; for I am older than the hills...) I belonged to the ham radio club, which, for some reason, also had a lot of members who were not hams but who were rather (non-ham) radio hobbyists and CBers. A couple of the non-ham members were quite obsessed with building small transistorized low-powered radio jammers that could be used to jam or interfere with reception by nearby AM and FM radio receivers.
  • a couple of years ago, there was a very big fad on the web and on Ebay (and on gadget sites such as Gizmodo) surrounding small portable devices that looked much like a keyfob remote for a car alarm system, but which was, in reality, a TV killer, that is, when the button on this innocent-looking device was depressed, it would send an infrared signal that would mimic the "turn off" (aka "power off") remote signal for dozens of models of TV sets. It became quite the fad to take these devices to bars (particularly "sports bars") and restaurants which featured overly-loud TV sets, and to use the devices to silence all the TVs in the joint so that patrons could hear each other talk.

Because of all the above factors, I have sometimes wondered -- entirely theoretically due to thorny legal and ethical issues -- about the possibility of building a small portable GPS jammer and placing it near an otherwise unremarkable traditional geocache in a wilderness setting; the GPSr inaccuracy caused by a carefully-placed GPSr jammer could easily raise the Difficulty rating for finding an ammo can in the woods from a 1 to a 5!

 

Introduction

Well, I learned recently that other folks must have been thinking of such things! A group of MIT engineering students from the MIT Media Lab, along with two non-profit educational organizations, have recently announced the release to the public of an open-source hardware device technology called the Wave Bubble, an open source cell phone/wifi/GPS/RF jammer device about the size of a pack of cigarettes -- in other words, a small portable device. Now, I must caution you that interest in such devices must remain entirely theoretical, or at least must be limited to very low-powered versions which are used only within an RF-shielded area of your laboratory, due to FCC rules about electronic devices which cause interference to other services. You may learn more about the Wave Bubble open-source project at the main webpage for the project You may also find another article on this device, and on portable jammers in general, on the high-tech GPS site called NaviGadget. And the same site offers a more general page giving an overview on GPSr jamming technology as well.

 

Now, of course, any of those readers with a background in electronics or radio will realize that the Wave Bubble device is nothing more than a small low-powered portable RF signal generator where the "transmitted" frequency may be chosen by the user, and the reality is that every electronics lab or RF lab usually sports a half-dozen RF signal generators which are tunable across most of the RF spectrum, and any of them can easily be turned into a very short-range RF jammer simply by adding a small rubber duckie antenna (or other suitable antenna, dependent upon frequency). In fact, perhaps the only claim to fame of the Wave Bubble open-source technology project is that a user can pre-program the signal generator/transmitter frequencies in their office or lab using their PC via the serial port or USB port.

 

Anyway, I will never bother to build a Wave Bubble device because my concerns about the legal and ethical implications of the effects of using even such a low powered (100 milliwatts, or 0.1 watt) jamming device in public. And, in any case, I have a half-dozen RF signal generators in my laboratory, and so I have no need for yet one more RF signal generator.

 

And it is important to remember that deploying such a device in a public area could easily run afoul of FCC rules. Of course, the reality is that a 100 milliwatt (0.1 watt) device capable of jamming GPS receivers would have an effective range of anywhere from eight feet to about 600 feet (the latter higher end of the range achievable only with a really good antenna), and so any dangers of the technology are rather self-limiting!

 

However, I found the Wave Bubble technology intriguing, because it provides my mind with all sorts of fodder for interesting thought experiments about the variety of high-Difficulty hard-to-find geocaches that could be created using such a small portable jammer. And I am sure that many of you may have your own ideas about how such a device could be deployed near a cache to raise the difficulty of finding it! Please feel free to share your brainstorms here!

 

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.

 

As a Magellan owner I think I'm being dissed but I' not sure because I don't knoe what a ALR is :grin:

 

I think hiding something off-co-ords is a dreadfull practice but it sure ups the diff. rating. I did a micro in the woods awhile back that would have been about a 3 or so but it was hidden 30-40 feet off co-ords ( by intent) which made it almost impossible to find.

If someone is going to hide " off-co-ords" it should say so on the cache page so I can skip it.

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Vinny

 

I read your post on a GPS jammer and found it interesting. I also like RF / Radio devices and years ago in college we made a little device that sent out garage door opener frequencies in steps until it hit the right one and the door opened. Our test was in a housing development and we must have opened 50 doors in a short period of time. PROBLEM – as we were leaving the police were coming so our 1st test became our last. And yes, beer was involved.

 

Years later I was researching was a device to ‘manipulate’ wireless entry systems on automobiles. Since just opening them was boring, I wanted to set off car alarms, Lots and Lots of car alarms at once in the mall parking lot on Black Friday. I never did make that one – any ideas :grin:

 

How funny would it be to open up an urban cache and the minute you do, all the cars in the areas alarms start going off – LOL

 

Anyway, Good luck with the hypothetical GPS Jammer.

 

P.S

ThinkGeek.com Still sells that TV Remote

 

edit: TV Be Gone Kit

Edited by WatchDog2020
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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.

But not as much fun! :grin:

 

My first thought wasn't cache related, but using it in a movie theater to insure that the local cell phones are off... :grin:

Actually, if your ONLY interest lies in jamming all cell phones within 200 or 300 feet, the market is rather SATURATED with small portable consumer products offered by a number of vendors which will jam all nearby cell phones. In fact, if you go to Google or Ebay, and type the term "cell phone jammer" you will find numerous listings pop up offering such products for under $45. In fact, when you type the term at Google, you also get hit with several paid ads for such devices! And, if you enter the term at Google Shopping, you will find many more vendors selling them! Fun, fun, fun!

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If we might consider a loose association between

Guideline elements:

"GPS usage is an essential element of geocaching. Therefore, although it is possible to find a cache without a GPS, the option of using accurate GPS coordinates as an integral part of the cache hunt must be demonstrated for all physical cache submissions."

 

& Terms of use:

"...you agree that you will not: ... (B) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site or any activities conducted on the Site ... "

 

???

~*

 

_________________________________________________

"Bring lawyers, guns & money" ~W. Zevon

 

 

.

Edited by Star*Hopper
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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.

I am sure that you must be joking or else you must be reporting upon your experiences in a very specialized and unique setting. My wife Sue and I have made all of our finds using two Magellan SportTrak Pros, and all of the really high-numbers cachers whom I know (including one with a find count of over 24,600 finds) use only Magellans. And, in my part of the country, where we have lots of dense forest cover and also cover from nearby mountain ridges, the better Magellans (particularly the Sport Trak Pro) ruled the roost over Garmins for years, and it was the Garmin users (until their latest two generations of technology released over the past two years or so) who were always the butt of jokes, because they were completely disoriented in the woods, simply due to signal loss due to dense forest/ridge cover/shielding of signals.

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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.

I am sure that you must be joking or else you must be reporting upon your experiences in a very specialized and unique setting. My wife Sue and I have made all of our finds using two Magellan SportTrak Pros, and all of the really high-numbers cachers whom I know (including one with a find count of over 24,600 finds) use only Magellans. And, in my part of the country, where we have lots of dense forest cover and also cover from nearby mountain ridges, the better Magellans (particularly the Sport Trak Pro) ruled the roost over Garmins for years, and it was the Garmin users (until their latest two generations of technology released over the past two years or so) who were always the butt of jokes, because they were completely disoriented in the woods, simply due to signal loss due to dense forest/ridge cover/shielding of signals.

You seem a bit sensitive about the quality of your unit.

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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.

I am sure that you must be joking or else you must be reporting upon your experiences in a very specialized and unique setting. My wife Sue and I have made all of our finds using two Magellan SportTrak Pros, and all of the really high-numbers cachers whom I know (including one with a find count of over 24,600 finds) use only Magellans. And, in my part of the country, where we have lots of dense forest cover and also cover from nearby mountain ridges, the better Magellans (particularly the Sport Trak Pro) ruled the roost over Garmins for years, and it was the Garmin users (until their latest two generations of technology released over the past two years or so) who were always the butt of jokes, because they were completely disoriented in the woods, simply due to signal loss due to dense forest/ridge cover/shielding of signals.

You seem a bit sensitive about the quality of your unit.

:laughing::D:D:D:D:rolleyes::)

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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.
As a Magellan owner I think I'm being dissed but I' not sure because I don't knoe what a ALR is :)

 

I think hiding something off-co-ords is a dreadfull practice but it sure ups the diff. rating. I did a micro in the woods awhile back that would have been about a 3 or so but it was hidden 30-40 feet off co-ords ( by intent) which made it almost impossible to find.

If someone is going to hide " off-co-ords" it should say so on the cache page so I can skip it.

While intentionally posting bad coords isn't what Vinny is talking about here, wouldn't doing so be a quicker, cheaper, and LEGAL way to achieve almost the same effect? :rolleyes:
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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.
As a Magellan owner I think I'm being dissed but I' not sure because I don't knoe what a ALR is :)

 

I think hiding something off-co-ords is a dreadfull practice but it sure ups the diff. rating. I did a micro in the woods awhile back that would have been about a 3 or so but it was hidden 30-40 feet off co-ords ( by intent) which made it almost impossible to find.

If someone is going to hide " off-co-ords" it should say so on the cache page so I can skip it.

While intentionally posting bad coords isn't what Vinny is talking about here, wouldn't doing so be a quicker, cheaper, and LEGAL way to achieve almost the same effect? :rolleyes:

I notice that someone else also raised the same issue in this thread. Personally, I ABHOR it when someone intentionally posts coordinates that have been deliberately fuzzied to render them ten or more feet from GZ. I would never do this myself, and I feel that if someone were to deliberately publish incorrect coordinates for a cache, then that fact should be clearly disclosed on the cache listing page. Rather, what I suggested could/would be fun in some settings would be to create a cache where the GPS readings are "fuzzed" as the cache hunter approaches within two to three hundred feet, and where the cache would be listed with an appropriately high Difficulty rating, and where the cache listing page would clearly disclose that anti-GPSr technology has been employed to render GPSrs largely useless withing 200 to 300 feet of the cache location.

 

The fun thing about a scenario such as that which I have envisioned is that it opens to door for enterprising cache hunters to employ all sorts of ingenious methods to try to defeat or get around the problems caused by the GPS signal jamming. These methods might include triangulation using bearings taken from outside the Alienation Zone, i.e., the zone of interference, other non-GPS-based methods for determining waypoint coordinates, or using sophisticated portable RF gear to locate the GPS jamming transmitter and temporarily render it inactive, etcetera.

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As an amateur ham you should know that what you suggest would get you arrested by the FCC and sent to federal prison. Even Cell phone jammers are really against the law too.

 

I believe some countries have allowed the cell phone jammers, but the last I heard was that here in the US they are not legal. And that's a good thing; would you want your doctors cell phone to be jammed while you were waiting for him in the emergency room?

 

But the original topic has me thinking. In the lab at work, I use equipment that simulates the GPS satellite network. If I put that in a cache, hooked up to an antenna (got those, too), I could make the caches coordinates appear to be anywhere I want.

 

Let's see, I need a large cache, plus AC power....

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You seem a bit sensitive about the quality of your unit.
Hey, let's not start discussing other people's units, here. :rolleyes:

 

As far as Garmin/Magellan goes, Vinny seems to want to compare Magellan to Garmin's technology from 2 generations ago. I see no real value in comparing a Yellow eTrex to a SportTrak Pro.

 

Vinny, why not hide a cache as close as you legally can to a Camp David scrambler, then make it an ALR cache that can only be hunted when the scrambler is active? It's cheaper, less work for you (well, it would involve figuring out the "sweet spot" for placing the cache...) and legal.

Or do what BAMBOOZLE suggests... Not only is it a bad practice, but it doesn't fit with the overall challenge. Not to mention, it wasn't actually suggested by anyone but me.

Edited by Too Tall John
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The fun thing about a scenario such as that which I have envisioned is that it opens to door for enterprising cache hunters to employ all sorts of ingenious methods to try to defeat or get around the problems caused by the GPS signal jamming. These methods might include triangulation using bearings taken from outside the Alienation Zone, i.e., the zone of interference, other non-GPS-based methods for determining waypoint coordinates, or using sophisticated portable RF gear to locate the GPS jamming transmitter and temporarily render it inactive, etcetera.
A-ha! I'm now getting the vision...

 

I like it. :rolleyes:

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"...it opens to door for enterprising cache hunters to employ all sorts of ingenious methods to try to defeat or get around the problems caused by the GPS signal jamming. These methods might include triangulation using bearings taken from outside the Alienation Zone, i.e., the zone of interference, other non-GPS-based methods for determining waypoint coordinates, or using sophisticated portable RF gear to locate the GPS jamming transmitter and temporarily render it inactive, etcetera."

 

Sheeez, d00d -- the hobby's already expensive enough as it is, thank you!

~*

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As an amateur ham you should know that what you suggest would get you arrested by the FCC and sent to federal prison. Even Cell phone jammers are really against the law too.

You are surely joking...! :rolleyes::) While use of many of these devices in certain settings may be technically illegal, the simple reality is that a good number of devices of this type (i.e., GPSr jammers, cell phone jammers, WiFi jammers) are already easily available on the consumer market, and many for under $100, and the two links which I provided in my first post for the NaviGadget site offered only the tip of the iceberg. For example, in a ten-minute Google search a little while ago, I found over forty vendors offering off-the-shelf and ready-to-use cell phone jammers and GPSr jammers! Of course, the reality is that these devices, dependent upon model and price, have an effective jamming range of only 8 feet to 370 feet, and thus their range of effect is so limited that no one cares, and, in fact, their use would be perfectly legal on private property with the permission of the owner. Indeed, this is why some movie theaters, shopping malls and shops and other commercial enterprises dealing in sensitive or high-security transactions routinely employ such jamming devices on their premises.

 

The reality is that unless someone were to create and deploy a relatively high-powered version of a cell phone jammer or GPSr jammer, one with a range of well over 1200 feet, no one would likely care. And the FCC already admits openly that it ignores -- due to budget limitations which impact its field enforcement division greatly -- over 98% of all reported technical airwave violations in the AM/FM, amateur, CB, business/commercial radio and TV bands, and even ignores most reports of outright piracy on the amateur, CB and AM/FM and shortwave bands, and they also ignore over 98% of reports of gross overpower in the CB and FRS bands as well. This choice is due not only to budget, but also simply to pragmatism and logistics. They prefer to focus their very limited resources on really serious offenses where the offending operation might cause significant interference to emergency communications or to aircraft navigation, and the reality is that a consumer marketplace portable cell phone jammer or GPSr jammer with a range of 180 feet (or far less, in many cases) is not gonna get anyone riled up.

 

I personally would not use a portable low-powered cell phone jammer or GPS jammer anyway, due to my own particular sense of ethics, but I am the first to admit that no one is likely to ever get busted for such activity unless they were a very flagrant violator using relatively high-powered equipment and a large high-gain antenna! :laughing:

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Vinny, why not hide a cache as close as you legally can to a Camp David scrambler, then make it an ALR cache that can only be hunted when the scrambler is active? It's cheaper, less work for you (well, it would involve figuring out the "sweet spot" for placing the cache...) and legal.

Or do what BAMBOOZLE suggests... Not only is it a bad practice, but it doesn't fit with the overall challenge. Not to mention, it wasn't actually suggested by anyone but me.

Interesting that you suggest this! The reality is that several of our caches located in nearby Gambrill State Park and Cunningham Falls State Park, along with several caches owned by other cachers, are in areas which are largely rendered "no signal" areas by the GPS jamming signal when it is in operation, and it can be quite hilarious reading DNF logs from cache hunters on those days, for they may have been four hundred feet from the cache at times when their GPSr was telling them that they must be within a couple of feet of it!

 

The only problem with creating an ALR cache as you describe, one that could only be hunted when the Camp David dithering/scrambling/jamming signal is operational, is that the Camp David scrambler/jammer does not operated on a fixed timetable, nor is there a website which announces when their signal is on, nor even a signal flag or balloon flying over Camp David which announces that the jamming signal is operational.

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If we might consider a loose association between

Guideline elements:

"GPS usage is an essential element of geocaching. Therefore, although it is possible to find a cache without a GPS, the option of using accurate GPS coordinates as an integral part of the cache hunt must be demonstrated for all physical cache submissions."

 

& Terms of use:

"...you agree that you will not: ... (:rolleyes: interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site or any activities conducted on the Site ... "

 

???

~*

 

_________________________________________________

"Bring lawyers, guns & money" ~W. Zevon

 

.

Then you haven't chased offset caches which are not essential to GPS accuracy but your ability to sleuth.

Edited by TotemLake
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With respect to GPS jammers, even the most advanced military grade models have a finite range that they are affective against. They are used to protect high value targets against GPS guided munitions. The GPS signal that our units receive is very weak as we have all noticed in dense tree cover. What a jammer tries to do is blast out "noise" on the same frequency as the GPS signal so that the unit cannot get a good lock. When Camp David is active a NOTAM (notice to Airman, i.e. pilots) is posted to keep people away from the airspace. I believe there is a permanent restricted airspace around Camp David, but it may expand in size due to who/what is going on there. If you're not allowed to fly in this airspace, then there really isn't a reason to state that a GPS jammer is in use since it won't affect you if you stay out of the airspace. There are a couple of ways to tell if a jammer is in use from our GPSr. Outside of the jammer range, take note of which, and how many satellites you're picking up. As you walk into the jammer's range, the satellites will start to drop off and the accuracy will go down.

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With respect to GPS jammers, even the most advanced military grade models have a finite range that they are affective against. They are used to protect high value targets against GPS guided munitions. The GPS signal that our units receive is very weak as we have all noticed in dense tree cover. What a jammer tries to do is blast out "noise" on the same frequency as the GPS signal so that the unit cannot get a good lock. When Camp David is active a NOTAM (notice to Airman, i.e. pilots) is posted to keep people away from the airspace. I believe there is a permanent restricted airspace around Camp David, but it may expand in size due to who/what is going on there. If you're not allowed to fly in this airspace, then there really isn't a reason to state that a GPS jammer is in use since it won't affect you if you stay out of the airspace. There are a couple of ways to tell if a jammer is in use from our GPSr. Outside of the jammer range, take note of which, and how many satellites you're picking up. As you walk into the jammer's range, the satellites will start to drop off and the accuracy will go down.

What our local fixed-wing and helicopter pilots -- including some who are geocachers -- have noticed consistently over the years is that when the GPS jamming transmitter at Camp David is in operation, its range extends well beyond the permanent restricted airspace and also well beyond the extended "special occasions" restricted airspace around Camp David. Thus, the signal "blurring" effect is often noticed by pilots well outside the restricted zones, and, of course, it adversely affects their ability to use GPSrs at those times during their normal fight activities.

Edited by Vinny & Sue Team
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In the United States, jamming is covered under the Communications Act of 1934, which prohibits people from "willfully or maliciously interfering with the radio communications of any station licensed or authorized" to operate. In fact, the "manufacture, importation, sale or offer for sale, including advertising, of devices designed to block or jam wireless transmissions is prohibited" as well.

 

Government is of course immune

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The government uses cell phone blockers regularly. I know this because when I was in the Army in Europe the Frequency Managers were going through the process of getting some approved by the German government.

 

They are also used (probably with permission of the FCC) in, as was mentioned earlier, sensitive areas (banks, research facilities, etc) where use of a cell phone is prohibited, yet is difficult to control who brings cell phones into the facility.

 

While it would be nice to block cell phones in movie theaters, restaurants, etc, it is not practical to do so.

 

just a thought

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No private entity has the authority to use jammers in any way shape or form. That authority rests with the certain govenment agencies that have to "apply" to use a jammer.

Otherwize restaurants, theatres, and many others would have placed them long ago to have a 'quite' zone. Also schools would have installed them in testing centers.

Its just another thing we are not grown up enough to have.

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It would be simpler just to make the cache a Magellan-only ALR.

I am sure that you must be joking or else you must be reporting upon your experiences in a very specialized and unique setting. My wife Sue and I have made all of our finds using two Magellan SportTrak Pros, and all of the really high-numbers cachers whom I know (including one with a find count of over 24,600 finds) use only Magellans. And, in my part of the country, where we have lots of dense forest cover and also cover from nearby mountain ridges, the better Magellans (particularly the Sport Trak Pro) ruled the roost over Garmins for years, and it was the Garmin users (until their latest two generations of technology released over the past two years or so) who were always the butt of jokes, because they were completely disoriented in the woods, simply due to signal loss due to dense forest/ridge cover/shielding of signals.

Which is better; the Magellan or the Garmin. After careful consideration between the pros and cons from both sides, I would say it is the

 

 

 

 

Lowrance

202486483.jpg

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My first thought wasn't cache related, but using it in a movie theater to insure that the local cell phones are off... :grin:

I've heard some places do this. Never experienced it though.

I have one those. Comes in handy when someone next to me in a restaurant is to loud on their cell. Funny to watch them when the phone goes dead.

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My first thought wasn't cache related, but using it in a movie theater to insure that the local cell phones are off... :grin:

I've heard some places do this. Never experienced it though.

I have one those. Comes in handy when someone next to me in a restaurant is to loud on their cell. Funny to watch them when the phone goes dead.

 

Just curious to you verify that there are no doctors or first responders in the area when you do this?

You may have just killed someone when seconds matter.

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I ever meet such problem before, after the high recommendation of one of my good friends, I got a cell signal repeater, everything is OK now. You can have a try!

 

6 years? What's with bringing back the dead threads today?

 

That appears to be a broken english human spammer trying to post on topic, and establish themselves as a "regular poster" before they start spamming. They can't fool me, I've seen it all. :ph34r:

 

Nice to see a Vinny thread bumped though!

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My first thought wasn't cache related, but using it in a movie theater to insure that the local cell phones are off... :grin:

I've heard some places do this. Never experienced it though.

I have one those. Comes in handy when someone next to me in a restaurant is to loud on their cell. Funny to watch them when the phone goes dead.

 

Just curious to you verify that there are no doctors or first responders in the area when you do this?

You may have just killed someone when seconds matter.

 

And BTW, it's illegal.

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I ever meet such problem before, after the high recommendation of one of my good friends, I got a cell signal repeater, everything is OK now. You can have a try!

 

6 years? What's with bringing back the dead threads today?

 

The bumping of this thread has the hallmarks of a typical spammer post.

 

 

B.

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Unfortunately the FCC and the authorities have recently started to crack down on people using them and selling them on Craigslist, with a recent arrest.

 

If your cellphone kept dropping calls along Interstate 4 last summer, it could have been because of Jason R. Humphreys. Federal authorities say Humphreys was operating a cellular jamming device during his daily commute between Seffner and Tampa. Humphreys, 60, told investigators he was using the jammer to keep people from talking on a cellphone while driving. The Federal Communications Commission was not amused. The agency is proposing a fine of $48,000 against Humphreys.

 

Federal law prohibits the importing, marketing, sale, possession or use of such wireless signal jamming devices, in part because of the public safety issue of people needing to make 911 calls. Unlike radar detectors that are strictly passive, these jammers can proactively block cellphones, Wi-Fi, GPS, aircraft communications and even two-way radios used by law enforcement and emergency personnel.

 

Though illegal in almost every case, such jammers are gaining popularity, federal authorities said, and federal agents often pursue people looking to sell them on Craigslist

The case along I-4 started on April 29, 2013, when the cellular company Metro PCS contacted the Federal Communications Commission because a transmission tower along I-4 would suffer in the morning and evening.

 

A week later, agents from the FCC's enforcement division in Tampa staked out the freeway on May 7, 8, and 9 and pinpointed a “strong wideband emission” in the cellphone wireless range “emanating from a blue Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle,” with Florida license plates, according to a complaint issued by the FCC on Tuesday.

 

Another clue: When Hillsborough County Sheriffs deputies stopped the SUV, their own two-way radios were jammed.

 

The FCC's complaint says Humphreys admitted he owned the jamming gadget and said he had used it for the past 16 to 24 months “to keep people from talking on their cellphones while driving.”

 

Humphreys told investigators he thought the jammer would work in a 30-feet radius, said Larry McKinnon, a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman. Instead, McKinnon said, the jammer was powerful enough it was affecting cellphone towers.

 

FCC officials seized the device from Humphreys after he was pulled over by sheriff's deputies. The next day, the problems with the cellphone towers stopped, Metro PCS officials said.

 

The use of the technology is illegal and dangerous, McKinnon said.

 

“You are cutting off any communication for any type of emergency,'' McKinnon said. “You are potentially putting people's lives at risk.”

 

The FCC action now starts a 30-day clock for Humphreys to either pay or give a reason why he won't. If he doesn't, the FCC can force payment.

 

Humphreys could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and no one answered the door Tuesday evening at his Seffner home.

 

The FCC has been focusing on such jammers for several years, partly as the devices are popping up more often on alternate markets such as Craigslist. Tuesday, a seller in Los Angeles listed one for sale for $300. “Rare Cell Phone Jammers,” the ad reads, “daughter won't stop using her cell or people are making phone calls in church — set up a jammer!”

 

Not every dropped call is due to a cellphone jammer, the FCC says. Rather it's often due simply to poor signals. But people who suspect jammers are foiling their calls can contact the FCC hotline at 1-855-55-NOJAM (1-855-556-6526).

http://tbo.com/news/business/fcc-seffner-man-was-using-cell-phone-jammer-20140429/

 

He has to pay the $48,000 fine based on the 3 days that the FCC tracked him, although he admits using it for 2 years.

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Unfortunately the FCC and the authorities have recently started to crack down on people using them and selling them on Craigslist, with a recent arrest.

 

If your cellphone kept dropping calls along Interstate 4 last summer, it could have been because of Jason R. Humphreys. Federal authorities say Humphreys was operating a cellular jamming device during his daily commute between Seffner and Tampa. Humphreys, 60, told investigators he was using the jammer to keep people from talking on a cellphone while driving. The Federal Communications Commission was not amused. The agency is proposing a fine of $48,000 against Humphreys.

 

Federal law prohibits the importing, marketing, sale, possession or use of such wireless signal jamming devices, in part because of the public safety issue of people needing to make 911 calls. Unlike radar detectors that are strictly passive, these jammers can proactively block cellphones, Wi-Fi, GPS, aircraft communications and even two-way radios used by law enforcement and emergency personnel.

 

Though illegal in almost every case, such jammers are gaining popularity, federal authorities said, and federal agents often pursue people looking to sell them on Craigslist

The case along I-4 started on April 29, 2013, when the cellular company Metro PCS contacted the Federal Communications Commission because a transmission tower along I-4 would suffer in the morning and evening.

 

A week later, agents from the FCC's enforcement division in Tampa staked out the freeway on May 7, 8, and 9 and pinpointed a "strong wideband emission" in the cellphone wireless range "emanating from a blue Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle," with Florida license plates, according to a complaint issued by the FCC on Tuesday.

 

Another clue: When Hillsborough County Sheriffs deputies stopped the SUV, their own two-way radios were jammed.

 

The FCC's complaint says Humphreys admitted he owned the jamming gadget and said he had used it for the past 16 to 24 months "to keep people from talking on their cellphones while driving."

 

Humphreys told investigators he thought the jammer would work in a 30-feet radius, said Larry McKinnon, a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman. Instead, McKinnon said, the jammer was powerful enough it was affecting cellphone towers.

 

FCC officials seized the device from Humphreys after he was pulled over by sheriff's deputies. The next day, the problems with the cellphone towers stopped, Metro PCS officials said.

 

The use of the technology is illegal and dangerous, McKinnon said.

 

"You are cutting off any communication for any type of emergency,'' McKinnon said. "You are potentially putting people's lives at risk."

 

The FCC action now starts a 30-day clock for Humphreys to either pay or give a reason why he won't. If he doesn't, the FCC can force payment.

 

Humphreys could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and no one answered the door Tuesday evening at his Seffner home.

 

The FCC has been focusing on such jammers for several years, partly as the devices are popping up more often on alternate markets such as Craigslist. Tuesday, a seller in Los Angeles listed one for sale for $300. "Rare Cell Phone Jammers," the ad reads, "daughter won't stop using her cell or people are making phone calls in church — set up a jammer!"

 

Not every dropped call is due to a cellphone jammer, the FCC says. Rather it's often due simply to poor signals. But people who suspect jammers are foiling their calls can contact the FCC hotline at 1-855-55-NOJAM (1-855-556-6526).

http://tbo.com/news/...ammer-20140429/

 

He has to pay the $48,000 fine based on the 3 days that the FCC tracked him, although he admits using it for 2 years.

 

haha... if only cops would do the same thing to people who park it in the passing lane on the interstate going the speed limit and refusing to move over... some people who think they have some supposed moral high ground love to take the law into their own hands and it's great to see when it comes back to bite them. Nobody should be using a cell or GPS jammer to interfere with other people's right to use their phone. At worst it could get you major fines or lawsuits if it jammed an important conversation.

 

Most of the people who go to such lengths are mostly jealous of other people's social lives more than anything. Yes it's annoying when someone opens their phone up in a movie theater but there are other ways to go about dealing with it.

Edited by sholomar
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That goes both ways. I notice more people using cell phones or texting while driving more than ever now despite it being illegal. On what moral high ground are they allowed to take the law into their own hands? There have been several teens who have died from texting and being on the phone around here. Now when I see someone driving 15 mph under the speed limit, drifting into other lanes, or the shoulder I just assume they are on the phone, as previously they would be thought to be drunk or stoned. There really is not much of a difference. I suppose some people need to be permanently injured or maimed in a car wreck before they realize how bad it is.

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Background and Overview

I have long had a mild back-burner interest in small, low-power portable and deployable (i.e. something that could be temporarily installed in a forest or other setting near a cache) devices which could emit jamming signals on one or more frequencies in order to block use of GPS receivers, WiFi or cell phones.

 

Thats not legal in Canada...

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Publish a cache but don't hide one, you save on the jammer and on the container, win, win.

Just make sure after every 5 or 6 DNFs or so, you post a note saying "just checked up on it, it's still there, look a little harder!" or otherwise people may lose interest. After about 100 DNFs you'll have people driving from miles around to find it and maybe even get it in the Geocaching Blog! After a few years, admit there never was a cache. Win, win, win!

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Publish a cache but don't hide one, you save on the jammer and on the container, win, win.

Just make sure after every 5 or 6 DNFs or so, you post a note saying "just checked up on it, it's still there, look a little harder!" or otherwise people may lose interest. After about 100 DNFs you'll have people driving from miles around to find it and maybe even get it in the Geocaching Blog! After a few years, admit there never was a cache. Win, win, win!

 

Better yet, never admit it and maybe some day GS will make it a lab cache.

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